Some traffic already moving through

Flooding rains from storms earlier this month breached a dike along the Intracoastal Waterway between the Choctawhatchee and West bays.

Special to The News Herald

By RANDAL YAKEY | The News Herald

Published: Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 07:53 PM.

WEST BAY — The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in the Florida Panhandle has reopened, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is asking recreational boaters to stay clear of the area until work on the dike is complete.

Pat Robbins, spokesman for the Corps, said another week is needed before the restoration project would be complete.

“We expect to have the whole thing complete by next Thursday,” Robbins said.

He also said barges are now able to be towed through the waterway, which originally was slated to reopen last Saturday.

“It was just a matter of getting the equipment in there,” Robbins said regarding the delay.

A section of the waterway, which stretches from Carrabelle to Brownsville, Texas, was shut down after flooding damaged a dike between Choctawhatchee Bay and West Bay during heavy rains earlier this month, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“There was just so much water going through it, it just blew it out,” Robbins said at the time of the disruption.

WEST BAY — The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in the Florida Panhandle has reopened, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is asking recreational boaters to stay clear of the area until work on the dike is complete.

Pat Robbins, spokesman for the Corps, said another week is needed before the restoration project would be complete.

“We expect to have the whole thing complete by next Thursday,” Robbins said.

He also said barges are now able to be towed through the waterway, which originally was slated to reopen last Saturday.

“It was just a matter of getting the equipment in there,” Robbins said regarding the delay.

A section of the waterway, which stretches from Carrabelle to Brownsville, Texas, was shut down after flooding damaged a dike between Choctawhatchee Bay and West Bay during heavy rains earlier this month, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

“There was just so much water going through it, it just blew it out,” Robbins said at the time of the disruption.

Most commercial traffic along the waterway has resumed, Corps officials said.

Chevron officials said that since the partial reopening of the waterway they have begun offloading products into their terminal on West Beach Drive. Chevron had been forced to cease utilization of the waterway.

Company officials said they experienced no inconvenience to their customers.

They also noted the rise in gas prices had nothing to do with the waterway closure.

The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which stretches more than 1,000 miles in five Gulf Coast states, was closed between mile marker 262 and 266, a span of about 4 miles, and the break is near mile marker 263, the Coast Guard said.

Boaters are urged to use caution in the area and contact the Coast Guard Sector Mobile by VHF-FM radio on channel 16 or at 251-441-5976 for more information.